WASHINGTON, DC- In an apparent rebuke to woke gender ideology, the Pentagon has reversed course on a policy that required military members to be referred to as “themselves” for joint award citations,” American Military News reported.
The decision came after the military sparked controversy by apparently bowing to the far left regarding gender identification.
The Pentagon said it will add “clarifying comments” to the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards to permit the use of gendered pronouns for joint military award citations. The now-changed policy was discovered last month by The Heritage Foundation, the Daily Signal reports.
The initial change was found when the Office of the Secretary of Defense returned the draft citation for the end-of-tour award for retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Under the change, Milley’s citation would have used the pronoun “themself” instead of “him.”
Page 49 of the manual included draft language for awards as follows:
"Superior Meritorious Service (e.g., PCS and Retirement awards): (Rank) First M. Last, Jr., United States (Military Service), distinguished themselves by superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility as (position and duty assignment), from (month, year) to (month, year)."
The rules were found in Department of Defense Manual 1348.33, Volume 4, and applied to the most prestigious awards given by the Defense Department. Such awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.”
“Themself” is not even a grammatically correct word…it appears to be a made-up word, just as many of the pronouns invented by the pronoun zealots are.
In a statement to The Daily Caller, a Department of Defense official said:
“The change in the DoD manual was not intended to restrict the use of citation pronouns. However, to avoid confusion in the future, we are adding a clarifying comment that ‘themselves’ can be replaced with ‘himself’ or ‘herself’ as appropriate,” American Military News reported.
The updated policy follows an earlier change, whereby the Pentagon changed the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards forcing the use of so-called “gender-neutral” pronouns for several joint military awards. AMN said that the change clarified the language for joint award citations and implemented updated references.
The Heritage Foundation uncovered the use of gender-neutral language in Milley’s end-of-tour award when it was returned due to its use of gender-specific pronouns. Once the matter became public, political leaders from the Republican Party, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a military veteran, slammed the decision.
Cotton was apoplectic over the issue, writing that he “would welcome a reply that this whole episode is just a practical joke or a decision you immediately reversed when it came to your attention.”
In a statement to Fox News, Cotton, a Senate Armed Services Committee member, said the Pentagon’s directive to use only non-gendered pronouns for joint awards “was no mistake.” Cotton slammed the Biden administration for focusing on pronouns instead of national security.
“The administration has been trying to woke-ify the military since Joe Biden took office,” Cotton said. “They got caught this time and reversed course, but the Department of Defense should never have adopted this absurd left-wing terminology in the first place.”
In fact, on Sept 8, 2023, when Cotton learned of the policy change, he wrote a public letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who has taken the lead in trying to turn the military into a woke social experiment. The letter included a mix of mocking humor and serious questions.
“Dear Mr. Secretary,” with a footnote reading, “If I may be so bold as to assume your ‘preferred gender.’” Cotton then asked questions about the policy, including:
Had the Heritage Foundation not uncovered this atrocity, it likely would not have been changed. They only appeared to do so when they were caught.
The decision came after the military sparked controversy by apparently bowing to the far left regarding gender identification.
The Pentagon said it will add “clarifying comments” to the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards to permit the use of gendered pronouns for joint military award citations. The now-changed policy was discovered last month by The Heritage Foundation, the Daily Signal reports.
The initial change was found when the Office of the Secretary of Defense returned the draft citation for the end-of-tour award for retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Under the change, Milley’s citation would have used the pronoun “themself” instead of “him.”
Page 49 of the manual included draft language for awards as follows:
"Superior Meritorious Service (e.g., PCS and Retirement awards): (Rank) First M. Last, Jr., United States (Military Service), distinguished themselves by superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility as (position and duty assignment), from (month, year) to (month, year)."
The rules were found in Department of Defense Manual 1348.33, Volume 4, and applied to the most prestigious awards given by the Defense Department. Such awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.”
“Themself” is not even a grammatically correct word…it appears to be a made-up word, just as many of the pronouns invented by the pronoun zealots are.
In a statement to The Daily Caller, a Department of Defense official said:
“The change in the DoD manual was not intended to restrict the use of citation pronouns. However, to avoid confusion in the future, we are adding a clarifying comment that ‘themselves’ can be replaced with ‘himself’ or ‘herself’ as appropriate,” American Military News reported.
The updated policy follows an earlier change, whereby the Pentagon changed the Manual of Military Decorations and Awards forcing the use of so-called “gender-neutral” pronouns for several joint military awards. AMN said that the change clarified the language for joint award citations and implemented updated references.
The Heritage Foundation uncovered the use of gender-neutral language in Milley’s end-of-tour award when it was returned due to its use of gender-specific pronouns. Once the matter became public, political leaders from the Republican Party, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a military veteran, slammed the decision.
Cotton was apoplectic over the issue, writing that he “would welcome a reply that this whole episode is just a practical joke or a decision you immediately reversed when it came to your attention.”
In a statement to Fox News, Cotton, a Senate Armed Services Committee member, said the Pentagon’s directive to use only non-gendered pronouns for joint awards “was no mistake.” Cotton slammed the Biden administration for focusing on pronouns instead of national security.
“The administration has been trying to woke-ify the military since Joe Biden took office,” Cotton said. “They got caught this time and reversed course, but the Department of Defense should never have adopted this absurd left-wing terminology in the first place.”
In fact, on Sept 8, 2023, when Cotton learned of the policy change, he wrote a public letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who has taken the lead in trying to turn the military into a woke social experiment. The letter included a mix of mocking humor and serious questions.
“Dear Mr. Secretary,” with a footnote reading, “If I may be so bold as to assume your ‘preferred gender.’” Cotton then asked questions about the policy, including:
- Did you personally approve the change? If not, when did you learn it?
- Under the new change, can service members request the use of the male or female pronoun on their award citations and at promotion and retirement ceremonies? How will those requests be treated?
- What other official documentation with the DOD requires gender-neutral language?
- To whom would service members need to submit a request for gendered pronouns to be used in their award ceremony? Can those requests be denied?
- Who decided to keep Change 5 and issue a clarification? Did the secretary of defense approve of keeping Change 5?
- Were there any communications between the White House or those acting on behalf of the White House in advance of this change being implemented in the first place? If so, what were those communications, with whom, and when?
- Did the chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff approve of Change 5? If so, when? If not, why was the change made nonetheless?
Had the Heritage Foundation not uncovered this atrocity, it likely would not have been changed. They only appeared to do so when they were caught.
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